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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23531458">💘 …And All is Mended 💘</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paige_Turner36/pseuds/Paige_Turner36'>Paige_Turner36</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Once Upon a Time (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chipped Cup, Cursed Storybrooke (Once Upon a Time), F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Magic Mirror - Freeform, Reunion, Romance, The Dark Curse - Freeform, The Pixie Flower, Tinkerbell’s Wand, True Love, True Love's Kiss, bluebird - Freeform, the Dark Castle - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 15:35:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,499</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23531458</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paige_Turner36/pseuds/Paige_Turner36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to A Midsummer Night’s Dream…</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Belle &amp; Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>💘 …And All is Mended 💘</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessLena/gifts">PrincessLena</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For PrincessLena who asked for a sequel</p>
<p>A Midsummer Night's Dream: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22619674</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT. This is for fun and not for profit.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rumple stood in the wreckage of the great hall, the chipped cup held in his claw. Its smooth white surface and delicate pattern gleamed in the moonlight, extinguishing the rage inside of him. He could not destroy this cup. It would be like breaking Belle. He set it down on the table.</p>
<p>Then he squinted as a gleam of light hit his eyes, momentarily blinding him, reflected off a shard of glass on the floor. A flicker of light amidst an ocean of darkness. He stooped to pick it up. All he could see was his reptilian eyes reflected back at him. Then, like a flash of light on water, Belle’s blue eyes were gazing back at him. Rumple looked behind him, but there was no Belle standing there. She was still in the dungeons where he had banished her so that she was protected from the beast’s fury.</p>
<p>He looked back at the mirror fragment. Belle’s eyes appeared again gazing into his own with such warmth and tenderness… with <em>love</em> that it made his knees go weak. Rumple stared transfixed as Belle’s eyes vanished to be replaced by a red rose, and the briefest glimpse of a couple dancing. He recognized those chestnut curls, but he couldn’t be sure. The shard didn’t show the whole picture. And the images looked unfamiliar yet strangely familiar. Like a dream he could reach but not quite hold.</p>
<p>Rumple scanned the debris on the floor and saw an ornate gold mirror with a long handle, its surface cracked and missing a piece. Its shape remarkably similar to the piece held in his fingers. If he put it back he’d be able to see.</p>
<p>But did he want to see? It couldn’t be any worse than what he was feeling right now.</p>
<p>Rumple slotted the mirror shard back into place. It magically sealed looking as if it had never been broken. Then the memories of that half remembered dream came flooding back as he watched them unfold within the mirror… <em>Belle tending to his pricked finger… tucking him into bed… ‘I’m going to stay. I’m going to stay with you, okay?’… picking his sleeping beauty up, laying her down and tucking her into his bed, her brown hair like a halo across his pillow… pressing a kiss to her forehead… Belle smiled in her sleep… the two of them riding a flying carpet in Agrabah… visiting Arendelle… waltzing in the Dark Castle… ‘I love you too, Rumple’… ‘I don’t want to hurt you, Belle. Don’t let me abandon you’… ‘You would never hurt me’… a kiss, pink Cupid light swirling around them, he saw his human face appear for a moment as he kissed his True Love, before the scales devoured him and the light faded…</em></p>
<p>The memories faded from the surface of the mirror, which reflected only Rumple’s horrified, tear soaked face. So shocked by what he had seen – what he remembered – he almost dropped the mirror and caught it deafly, cradling the back of it, like he had cradled the back of Belle’s head as he dipped her during their dance in this very room. He braced himself on the long table.</p>
<p>What had he done?</p>
<p>
  <em>I don’t want to hurt you, Belle…</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You would never hurt me…</em>
</p>
<p>But he had hurt her. He accused her of only returning on the orders of the Evil Queen or through a desperate desire to be a famous hero. He had shaken her violently, screamed in her face that no one could ever love him; thinking of his Black Fairy mother, his never aging child father, his opportunistic ex-wife, his heart crushing social climbing ex-lover, of the gnat who had manipulated his beloved son to banish him from this realm believing he was saving him. And he had thrown her down into the dungeons.</p>
<p>How can Belle love him now? The loveable man high on Cupid magic, free of all inhibition; who had treated her like a queen would never had treated her so beastly. He did not deserve her love. What he did to her, what he almost did, he swore never to do to someone he loved. If he could not keep that promise, then he had no right to her heart.</p>
<p>He had to let her go.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Belle jumped as the dungeon door swung magically open. Rumple walked slowly into the room, wringing his hands nervously. He was not looking at her. Belle swallowed, but gazed unflinchingly at him.</p>
<p>‘So. What happens now?’ Belle asked. ‘Where do we go from here, you and me? What happens now?’</p>
<p>He didn’t answer her. He didn’t seem to hear her.</p>
<p>‘Rumple?’</p>
<p>Still not looking at her, Rumple raised his hand and pointed it at the open door. ‘Go,’ he said in a small voice, barely above a whisper, his expression was so sad, so lost. As if on autopilot, he turned and made to leave the dungeon.</p>
<p>‘Go?’ Belle repeated behind him.</p>
<p>Rumple stopped in the doorway. ‘I release you,’ said Rumple, still in that faint, lost sounding voice. ‘You’re no longer my prisoner. You haven’t been for a long time… Safe journey.’</p>
<p>With no hope left, Rumple walked out and was gone, leaving the dungeon door open. Fighting back tears, Belle stood up, straightened her blue dress and swept from the room, heading for the front doors as instructed. But in the entrance hall she stopped beside the table with the vase of red roses sat on top, at equal distance between the doors to the great hall and the open front doors leading to her freedom.</p>
<p>
  <em>I don’t want to hurt you, Belle. Don’t let me abandon you…</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I’m not going anywhere. I know who you are. There’s no curse in any realm that can stop me from loving you…</em>
</p>
<p>Belle veered left and marched towards the doors to the great hall. Rumple may not remember but she had promised the man she loved she would not let him abandon her once Cupid’s magic had lifted. The double doors swung open for her.</p>
<p>A scene of total devastation met her eyes. Rumple’s entire collection had been destroyed, the glass cabinet at the opposite end of the room had been smashed; a discarded walking stick lay on the floor, its contents smashed or broken to join the rest of the meaningless treasures that had been knocked from their tables or plinths onto the floor. The only things Rumple hadn’t destroyed in his rage were the spinning wheel, the tall mirror where he had accused the Evil Queen of turning her against him, the staff on the floor and two items sitting on the far end of the table.</p>
<p>Drawing closer, her footsteps crunching on broken glass and china, Belle saw that it was the chipped cup. Was this what had made Rumple cease his trashing of his possessions, that snapped him out of fear and anger to stop him throwing it against the wall like the rest of the teacups? Their chipped cup reflected in the smooth surface of…</p>
<p>…her mirror!</p>
<p>Belle snatched it up and stared into it. The memories flashed across it, ending with their kiss that broke Cupid’s enchantment and (though she had not seen it) revealed the man behind the beast. But when the image faded, Rumple’s horrified, broken face replaced it for a moment, gazing back at Belle, before it swivelled up towards the ceiling as though the mirror had fallen from his grasp before he caught it.</p>
<p>Belle’s face reappeared in the glass, mirroring the same dawning comprehension as Rumple.</p>
<p>He remembered! He had found the mirror which had restored his forgotten memories!</p>
<p>And he had told her to go. Now it made sense. Rumple’s shame in breaking his promise of not hurting her had outweighed his plea to Belle to not let him abandon her. Perhaps believing that she would hate him after his outburst and accusations of betrayal.</p>
<p>But Belle had promised she wasn’t going anywhere and no one, not even Rumple himself, could stop her from loving him.</p>
<p>She looked around. Rumple wasn’t in the room. She went to search for him. This was not as easy as she had hoped. No matter which door she tried or how many times she tried to run up the marble staircase to the upper levels, she found herself stumbling back into the great hall or back down the stairs into the entrance hall facing the open front doors. She felt like she was trapped in Wonderland where the natural laws didn’t make sense or some sort of time loop. But she knew it was Rumple’s magic preventing her from seeking him out. The only route available to her was the front doors.</p>
<p>Belle strode out of them, down the steps and turned to look up at the Dark Castle, searching the windows for a sign of Rumple staring out of them, waiting to see her walking down the drive and out of his life forever. He wasn’t at any of the windows. Could he not face seeing her leave?</p>
<p>Then, as Belle craned her neck to gaze up passed the many turrets, she saw him. Rumple was perched amongst the gargoyles at the top of the tallest tower, the highest of the castle. But how to get to him when she couldn’t get to the first floor?</p>
<p>She hurried back into the great hall and searched the debris, desperately looking for… <em>Please don’t be broken. Please don’t be broken. Please don’t be broken</em>. She found it! A fairy wand from Rumple’s collection. It was green and glowed at her touch. She didn’t question how or why but hurried back outside.</p>
<p>Rumple sat on the edge of the tower, a tiny red, orange and gold speck. Belle gazed at the glowing wand. She was nervous; she had never done this before, but if this wand belonged to the fairy she believed it to be, whom she had read about, she knew how it must work. She waved the wand in circles, momentarily distracted and mesmerized by the green stars swirling through the night air. Then she closed her eyes and waved it over herself, green stars twinkling like pixie dust as they showered down upon her.</p>
<p>Belle focused her thoughts on Rumple; happy thoughts, lovely thoughts that carried her into the air. Opening her eyes, Belle saw that was exactly what had happened. She was flying! She had risen into the air, staring down on the castle and grounds as if she were looking at a map. But she had travelled too high. Careful not to break the magic and plunge to her death, Belle willed herself to descend slowly and landed lightly on the parapet a couple of levels below Rumple.</p>
<p>She could’ve magicked herself to the top, but the sight of her despondent love obliterated all other thoughts. Dropping the wand which clinked as it hit the floor, Belle hurried along the parapet, balanced precariously along a gabled roof to the next parapet, jogged across it and then up the steep spiral staircase, getting dizzier and dizzier until at last she reached the top of the tallest tower.</p>
<p>She looked left and saw Rumple sitting hunched between two stone gargoyles with his back to her, his arms wrapped around his legs like a child, staring down below at the wrought iron gates at the end of the drive. Any moment he’d see Belle pass through those gates to return home or embark on the adventures she longed for and never look back.</p>
<p>‘Rumplestiltskin?’</p>
<p>He didn’t acknowledge her presence by her voice or her clambering up the tower steps. She didn’t think he even knew she was there. Belle made her way over to him carefully on the tiny ledge then, gripping the gargoyle for support, knelt down beside him and tried to meet his gaze, but still he wouldn’t look round. He stared into the darkness, a dead eyed stare, unseeing. It was like he was in some kind of trance, under some spell she had no idea how to break. He was unresponsive to sound and touch when Belle gripped his shoulder, squeezing it gently.</p>
<p>‘Rumple?’</p>
<p>Rumple reacted then. He closed his eyes, like he wanted to block out the sound of her voice, possibly believing he was imaging her voice whispering his name, like a siren call tempting him to his doom. A single tear slid down his weathered cheek and he somehow managed to curl deeper into himself, to protect himself against further pain.</p>
<p>‘Look at me. Please, Rumple,’ she urged him. She brushed his curly hair out of his face, trying to bring him back to her. ‘Look at me.’</p>
<p>‘I can’t,’ said Rumple in a hushed voice.</p>
<p>‘Why?’</p>
<p>‘Because you’ll vanish.’</p>
<p>‘I’m right here.’</p>
<p>‘You shouldn’t be.’</p>
<p>‘No one decides my fate but me remember? And you released me, so I can do as I damn well please.’</p>
<p>‘I hurt you,’ said Rumple ashamedly.</p>
<p>‘Yes you did,’ Belle admitted. Her upper arms were bruised from where Rumple had gripped her tightly. ‘And you’re hurting me right now telling me I’m not real,’ she said her voice shaking. ‘It’s insulting.’</p>
<p>Rumple flinched and recoiled, chastising himself for causing further hurt to his love, as if Belle had shouted it at him.</p>
<p>Belle cupped his wet cheek and moved his face gently towards her. ‘Open your eyes,’ she said softly. ‘I’m here. And I promise; I will never, ever leave you.’</p>
<p>Rumple opened his big eyes, full of pain and tears. They widened when they saw Belle crouched beside him. ‘Belle…’ he breathed.</p>
<p>Belle smiled wetly, nodding as she stroked his cheek tenderly with her thumb.</p>
<p>‘Belle…’ said Rumple again, staring at her as if she shouldn’t exist, though Belle knew it was because he couldn’t believe she had managed to get up here. ‘How?’</p>
<p>‘Determination. Stubbornness. And a little magic,’ said Belle, a little proudly. ‘I’ve certainly had my exercise for the day. Oh!’ Belle glanced down at the forgotten fairy wand glowing green on the parapet below and Rumple followed her gaze. ‘Sorry.’</p>
<p>But Rumple snapped his fingers and conjured the green wand into his hand. He examined it and smiled. ‘Of course… Tinkerbell.’</p>
<p>‘I most certainly am not!’ said Belle.</p>
<p>Rumple chuckled. ‘No, Belle. This belonged to a fallen fairy. The Blue Fairy stripped her of her magic and her wings and banished her to another realm. All for the crime of believing a villain could be redeemed through True Love.’</p>
<p>‘The Reul Ghorm did that?’ said Belle shocked.</p>
<p>‘Where there’s injustice there’s a fairy,’ said Rumple darkly. ‘She shows little mercy to her sisters then she does to us little people she watches from on her high cloud, unless she deems them important in her eyes.’</p>
<p>‘Who is she to decide who’s irredeemable or unimportant?’ said Belle indignantly.</p>
<p>‘I fear you’ll sit here until the crack of doom trying to work that out, Belle.’</p>
<p>‘So the fairy this wand belonged to, this Tinkerbell…’</p>
<p>‘It’s powered by pixie dust. Even gives you the power of flight, if you –’</p>
<p>‘– think lovely thoughts,’ Belle finished happily. She shivered as an icy wind breathed down their necks. ‘Do you think we can continue this conversation somewhere warmer? And not so high up?’</p>
<p>Rumple smiled. He waved his hand and in a cloud of red smoke transported them to the great hall. He glanced around; faintly embarrassed at the destruction he had wrought on the room. ‘Um…’ He waved his hand at the mess.</p>
<p>The room came to life as it began to repair itself. Ornaments reformed in the air, glass flew back into their panes on the doors of the cabinet, furniture flew back to their original places, knocked over plinths righted themselves to receive the wizard’s hat, golden fleece and genie lamp that sat upon them and the little pendulum clock chimed merrily. Something was tugging at Belle’s shoe. Looking down she saw a candlestick struggling to break free. She lifted her foot and it zoomed across the room to rejoin its fellows nestled in the candelabra next to the pendulum clock. And with a whoosh and a crackle, a roaring fire ignited in the fireplace, filling the room with warmth and light.</p>
<p>‘You saved our cup,’ said Belle as Rumple replaced Tinkerbell’s wand among its fellows.</p>
<p>Rumple picked it up and carried it over to a plinth. He removed the Holy Grail from its sot and replaced it with the chipped cup – the <em>real </em>Holy Grail.</p>
<p>‘There are many treasures in this castle,’ said Rumple quietly. ‘But this? This is the only thing I truly cherish.’</p>
<p>Belle smiled.</p>
<p>‘And I don’t deserve either of you.’</p>
<p>Her smile faded. She picked up the mirror, walked over to Rumple and held it out to him. Rumple took it, staring at their reflections.</p>
<p>‘You remember everything,’ said Belle.</p>
<p>Rumple nodded miserably. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’</p>
<p>‘I hoped you would remember on your own,’ said Belle weakly. ‘The memories were still there, even though you thought they were a dream. And…’ She blushed. ‘I hoped our kiss would help you remember.’</p>
<p>Rumple looked at her.</p>
<p>‘I had already decided to come back before Regina flagged me down. She wasn’t exactly discreet.’</p>
<p>‘Subtlety was never her strong suit.’</p>
<p>‘When I kissed you… it didn’t matter to me if we were True Love or not, only knowing that you love me too. And maybe it would jog your memory. I wasn’t working with… I wasn’t trying to…’</p>
<p>‘I know. I see that now. But I cannot let you break my curse, Belle. I need my magic… I need it to find my son.’</p>
<p>‘But I thought you said your son was…’ Then she realized, remembering Rumple’s words and the remembrance she had unwittingly intruded on, ‘You said he was lost, not dead.’</p>
<p>‘I’m so close, Belle,’ said Rumple. ‘I must find him. I must atone for causing us to be separated all these years. And I can’t lose the only thing that will help me to get him back.’</p>
<p>‘I understand,’ said Belle. ‘I want to help. I’d like to meet…’</p>
<p>‘Baelfire…’ Just saying the name made Rumple smile. ‘…is his name.’ But the smile disappeared again. ‘Belle…’</p>
<p>‘Don’t even think of sending me away,’ said Belle warningly.</p>
<p>‘I hurt you, Belle. I accused you of conspiring with the Queen.’</p>
<p>‘You weren’t in possession of all the facts. You didn’t remember–’</p>
<p>‘I vowed never to hurt you long before Cupid’s arrow. I’ve been alive for centuries, Belle. I have the benefit of… life experience. I know things don’t always work out the way you want them to. And… I haven’t been lucky in love. My wife ran off with another man because she, and I quote, “never loved me”, leaving me to raise Bae alone. My parents… well, you’ve met my mother; she chose power and other people’s children over the child who was actually hers, who she didn’t bother to name. And my father told me I was holding him back. The last time I dared to open myself up to the idea of love… she tossed me aside like a piece of rubbish; all for a crown, after she tricked me into teaching her magic and cheating me out of possibility of another a child. When it seemed you had come back on Regina’s orders… that being a hero meant more to you then… I thought it was final proof… that I’m a man no one can love.’</p>
<p>Belle hadn’t realised she was crying until now. Rumple had suffered so much, and at the hands of people who were supposed to love and care for him. They had destroyed his belief in love and made him doubt his worthiness of being loved.</p>
<p>‘If I can’t keep that promise, Belle, then I am unworthy–’</p>
<p>‘No,’ said Belle sharply, shocking Rumple into silence. She took the mirror from his unresisting hand, set in on the table beside Lumière and Cogsworth, and took hold of his hands. ‘It was working. True Love’s Kiss takes two. That would never have worked if it was just one-sided. Which means you feel the same about me as I do about you. For that moment you were happy, you believed with all your heart that someone wanted you.’</p>
<p>Rumple swallowed; his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.</p>
<p>‘That’s why you really stopped it. Because it was real. That’s what really scared you.’</p>
<p>Belle gazed into his eyes, the windows to the soul, his brown eyes hidden behind the curse and years of pain and self-doubt.</p>
<p>‘You didn’t deserve what they did to you. But you deserve to be loved. Even people who have made mistakes deserve happiness. All things work together for good.’</p>
<p>‘What possible good came from abandoning my son?’ Rumple asked. ‘For <em>this</em>?’ He pulled a hand free to do his signature flick, though without his showman flare.</p>
<p>‘Me,’ said Belle. ‘It–it <em>was</em> a terrible thing you did. But your first act as Dark One was to end the First Ogres War. The Dark One cost you your son, but would you have met me if you hadn’t? Would you have found your True Love if you never became the Dark One?’</p>
<p>Becoming the Dark One had saved and lost him his son, sending him on a three hundred year journey to find him and that voyage had thrown him into the path of Belle – beautiful, brave, brilliant Belle, his True Love, whom he would never have met if he hadn’t lived just a few more centuries.</p>
<p>‘There’s still things in my past you don’t know,’ said Rumple. ‘The Dark One isn’t just the name of my curse.’</p>
<p>‘I can’t promise I’ll like everything I hear. But I’m listening.’</p>
<p>‘You won’t love me when I’m finished. I don’t want to see that happen, Belle.’</p>
<p>‘I know who you are. There’s no curse in any realm that can stop me from loving you.’</p>
<p>‘You’ll never be safe. You’ll have a target on your back forever because of your association with me. If I lose you, I’ll lose everything. I’ll lose myself to Darkness.’</p>
<p>‘If you are ever lost, I will find you. I’ll fight for you. I’ll never stop fighting for you.’</p>
<p>Rumple didn’t say anything. Was he searching desperately for a new argument? Or had Belle’s passionate declarations rendered him speechless?</p>
<p>‘I love you,’ said Belle with all her heart.</p>
<p>At last Rumple smiled, his eyes seeming to inflate with tears as he embraced Belle. ‘Yes,’ he choked. ‘Yes. And I love you too.’</p>
<p>Belle smiled as she cried into his red velvet waistcoat. She felt Rumple stroking her hair, listening to him gently shushing her even when he himself was crying, overflowing with happiness.</p>
<p>They were going to be okay.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Evil Queen activated her mirror expecting to look into the great hall of the Dark Castle to see her teacher sitting in the ruins of his own self-destruction (not as good as being powerless, but she did love the misery of others). Instead she looked into a room restored to its former glory, watching the twisted imp and his maid hugging each other.</p>
<p>Happy. Together. United. Unbreakable.</p>
<p>True Love at its strongest.</p>
<p>While she continued to suffer.</p>
<p>Rumple and Belle turned towards the mirror and saw the Evil Queen watching them, shocked and livid.</p>
<p>‘Sorry, Queenie,’ said Rumple. ‘I’m not dealing today. As you can see, I’m otherwise engaged. And will be for… ooh! The foreseeable future!’</p>
<p>‘You know we ought to thank you, Your Majesty,’ said Belle.</p>
<p>The Evil Queen’s lip curled into a twisted smile. ‘For showing you how weak and pathetic he is? You’re welcome.’</p>
<p>Rumple cuddled Belle closer. ‘If you hadn’t attacked me, Belle and I may well have been separated forever. By trying to destroy me, you sort of saved our relationship.’</p>
<p>‘That’s not what happened!’ the Evil Queen shrieked.</p>
<p>‘In any case, I’m afraid your communications are terminated.’</p>
<p>‘But don’t worry, Your Majesty,’ said Belle. ‘If you wish to make a deal, you’re welcome to drop by for a cup of tea. If there’s a queue?’</p>
<p>‘Join it!’ Rumple trilled.</p>
<p>With an impish giggle, Rumple flicked his wrist and the mirror went black, reflecting nothing but the Evil Queen’s snarling face. She conjured a fireball and with a scream of rage fired it into the mirror which exploded, firing glass in all directions. The fractured shards that remained in the mirror, now with a burning hold through it, reflected eight vengeful Evil Queens.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Rumple sat in his cell in the dwarf mines listening to the distant rumblings as the oncoming Dark Curse approached. Then he heard a twittering noise and turned to see a bluebird fluttering towards him up the tunnel. It slipped through the bars and landed on his knee. For a moment he thought it was one of Snow White’s bluebirds, before he remembered that the princess was currently preoccupied giving birth to the Saviour and getting her to safety.</p>
<p>Then he saw that the bird had a tiny phial tied to its leg, labelled in a delicate hand he knew so well: <em>Rumple</em>. As he heard the curse rip through the upper floors, he hastened to untie the phial and pour the potion over the bird, which disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke and had already gathered the woman up in his arms before she was revealed to be Belle.</p>
<p>‘You shouldn’t have!’ said Rumple, even as he hugged her tight, his voice echoing loudly off the walls.</p>
<p>Belle pulled back and looked hungrily into Rumple’s face, as if wanting to memorise it. ‘I had to see you one last time. While it still matters.’</p>
<p>‘It’ll be all right,’ Rumple assured her. ‘Regina will put me in a position of power. I’ll awaken when the Saviour arrives.’</p>
<p>‘But it won’t be for twenty eight years,’ said Belle threatfully.</p>
<p>‘We won’t even feel it.’</p>
<p>‘You bet we won’t. Is there really no other way?’</p>
<p>‘It’s the only way we’ll be able to find Bae.’</p>
<p>‘And Ella’s baby?’</p>
<p>‘People know my reputation yet they refuse to read the small print. I learned that the hard way. It’s vital so that the Saviour will owe me a favour. If we are to find Bae in this new land, we’ll need someone who knows their way around.’</p>
<p>The whole mine began to tremble. They had moments.</p>
<p>‘I’m scared, Rumple.’</p>
<p>‘As am I. But it’ll turn out all right in the end. You’ll see.’</p>
<p>There was a crash and a roar like an oncoming wind and they huddled closer together as the curse came billowing up the mines towards them, gathering speed. There was just enough time for one last look at their True Love’s face and to throw their arms around each other before the fog descended upon them…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>24<sup>th</sup> October 2011 Storybrooke, Maine</em>
</p>
<p>The clock tower chimed eight o’clock for the first time in twenty eight years. Time was moving again. The Saviour’s mere presence in Storybrooke was beginning to weaken the curse. Regina wouldn’t like that. Rumple – or Mr Gold on this earth – saw her staring up at the clock above the library and it amused him to see the oblivious cricket, Dr Hopper, inadvertently needling her about it, and her look was murderous.</p>
<p>They exchanged a few words and separated, Dr Hopper now looking troubled and Mayor Mills looking immensely satisfied about something, which could mean nothing good. Was she already planning to drive Emma Swan out of town? Well, Henry would certainly have something to say about that.</p>
<p>Then he saw it, poking its head out of the crack in the road where Regina had been standing and blooming brightest pink. Rumple limped towards it, barely glancing to see if any cars were coming, knelt down and picked the miraculous flower that only bloomed in reaction to the presence of evil.</p>
<p>The Pixie Flower.</p>
<p>And the dust from this flower had the ability to reunite anyone who shared True Love.</p>
<p>The flower brightened at his touch and its pink dust sprinkled on his hand before they were caught on a gust of wind. Then it swerved round and drifted in a steady stream towards the Storybrooke Free Public Library until it hit its doors, which shone briefly and faded.</p>
<p>Of course, Rumple thought. Paige Turner, the Storybrooke librarian. Though to him, she was his Belle.</p>
<p>The library didn’t open until nine o’clock but the door was unlocked as Rumple entered the library, which was still dark because the lights were off and the blinds were still down. He scanned the aisles and rows of books. Then Belle appeared, carrying a pile of books and replacing them back on the shelves.</p>
<p>She looked pale and sad. Belle loved books, this was her dream job, and yet the curse forced the townspeople to keep away, depriving them the joy of reading and leaving Paige depressed that her passion did not excite others and she was barely able to earn a living on it. Her only visitor had been Mr Gold, who came on Rent Day or when he needed to borrow a book to research on the history or restoration of a treasure he had just obtained. Belle was as lonely now as she had been in her village.</p>
<p>‘Oh!’ Paige Turner jumped as she looked up and saw Rumple watching her. ‘M–Mr Gold. I–I thought Rent Day was tomorrow.’</p>
<p>Rumple swallowed. Where Belle was unafraid to maintain eye contact, Paige was skittish. She was terrified of him – of Mr Gold – the town monster, who had the power to raise her rent or kick her out. ‘I’m–’ Rumple coughed nervously, clearing his throat. ‘I’m not here about the rent, Miss Turner.’</p>
<p>‘Well, the – the library isn’t open yet.’</p>
<p>‘I realise that, Miss Turner. I… I need a favour.’</p>
<p>Paige looked up in surprise. ‘<em>You </em>need a favour from <em>me</em>?’</p>
<p>Rumple chuckled at the irony. ‘It was bound to happen sooner or later. I have a question that I think you might be able to answer for me.’ He held up the Pixie Flower. ‘Do you know what this is?’</p>
<p>Paige stepped forward, Belle’s curiosity burning through her as she examined the flower. ‘Where did you find this?’</p>
<p>‘Outside. Have you ever seen the like before?’</p>
<p>‘No.’ Paige shook her head. ‘Why don’t you ask Mr French? He is a florist.’</p>
<p>‘That man cannot tell a flower from a weed,’ Rumple wrinkled his nose. ‘I thought you with your vast resources would be able to find this obscure flower.’</p>
<p>‘What’s your interest?’</p>
<p>‘Personal interest. I can never resist a good mystery. Can you?’</p>
<p>‘No. It is beautiful.’</p>
<p>‘It is. Here.’ Rumple held it out to her as he had done the rose. ‘If you’ll have it.’</p>
<p>Paige smiled a little at the gesture. ‘Why thank you.’</p>
<p>She reached out her hand and took the Pixie Flower, her fingers brushing against his hand.</p>
<p>It happened immediately; the moment Paige touched her True Love’s skin, their hands glowed pink and she gave a start and blinked rapidly. Rumple waited, hardly daring to breathe. But when she looked up, Belle stared back at him and, remembering who he was, smiled.</p>
<p>‘Rumple!’ Belle gasped.</p>
<p>‘Belle…’</p>
<p>His cane clattered to the floor as they hugged fiercely.</p>
<p>‘It’s okay,’ Rumple soothed as he felt her shaking. ‘I’m here now, sweetheart.’</p>
<p>‘It was horrible,’ Belle whispered. ‘I was so lost.’</p>
<p>‘But I found you, as you found me.’</p>
<p>They pulled back to look at each other. Belle stroked his human face. ‘Handsome as ever.’ Then she remembered, ‘The Saviour…’</p>
<p>‘Emma Swan arrived two days ago. I remembered just yesterday. And she brought magic with her. That’s how the Pixie Flower was finally able to bloom.’</p>
<p>‘They grow in the presence of evil,’ said Belle. ‘And reunite True Love.’</p>
<p>‘Now all we have to do is wait for the curse to break.’</p>
<p>Rumple sighed. He had only just got Belle back, but he knew Regina would know something was wrong when she saw beastly Mr Gold and dormouse Paige Turner suddenly very familiar with each other.</p>
<p>‘Until then, I’m afraid we will have to keep up the pretence, Belle. Regina cannot know we’re awake.’</p>
<p>Belle gripped Rumple’s lapels, looking as though she never wanted to let him go. ‘Just pretend we don’t know each other? Every day?’</p>
<p>‘By day, yes. By night?’ Rumple placed his finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. He smiled seductively. ‘Well… that’s between us, eh?’</p>
<p>Belle grinned. Then she pulled him towards her and kissed him. Rumple wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back, eyes closed as he revelled in the feel of her.</p>
<p>They stood in the dark library, their entwined figures illuminated by the sunlight flooding in through the open door. The Pixie Flower lay on the floor at their feet, shining pink in reaction to the presence of True Love.  </p>
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